


Methods of Communication

by georgette_the_frog



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: (sort of), F/M, I'd love to write like 20k of sub Shiro but who has the time, Light Dom/sub, Phone Sex, everyone else shows up but only for a couple minutes, guided masturbation, he's an adult but he needs an adult-ier adult, he's so responsible give the guy a break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-08
Updated: 2017-03-08
Packaged: 2018-10-01 03:07:49
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,274
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10179311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/georgette_the_frog/pseuds/georgette_the_frog
Summary: He’d had a couple brief relationships back on earth, but the Garrison had eaten up his time and made it unsustainable. Then the Kerberos Mission and the Galra and Voltron and…there was a never-ending list of reasons Shiro hadn’t pursued a relationship of any kind in years. Listening to the Princess over a comm-link and getting off seemed so patently ridiculous he'd never really let himself consider the possibility.This wasn't how he'd thought his life would turn out.





	

Hours of training had drained Shiro, left him running on fumes. He made it back to his room without staggering, which was an achievement in and of itself. His body was crashing, the combined physical and mental fatigue of training and the never-ending exhaustion he faced from a lack of sleep.

The cursory shower was a necessity, and once out, he dropped into bed, dying for sleep but knowing he would probably only scrape a couple hours before nightmares woke him.

The gentle beep of a non-urgent call on his comm unit roused him and he reluctantly rolled over to answer it. “ ‘lo?”

“Shiro? Do you have time to go over the results of today’s testing? Coran just finished the analysis, and I thought it best to make a gameplan for tomorrow.” Allura’s voice came through, adenoidal and far too sharp for his mind to fully register.

“I…yeah. Give me the bad news first.”

“Well, most of the team hasn’t improved.”

Shiro slumped back into bed. “Great.”

“Both Keith and Lance turned out approximately the same numbers as yesterday, Pidge was out of a number of tests, working with Coran on the jump capacitors. Hunk showed slight improvement, but seeing as his scores were only passable in the speed and agility exercises to start with, that’s not enough.” She sighed. “Also, the other two got in another fight after you left.”

“Physical or verbal?”

“It took Hunk and I to separate them.”

“Great. Just…great.” He fought the urge to curl in on himself. “Remind me how you think we’re going to put together a cohesive team?”

“I know you’re frustrated with them but some of this is simply going to take time. You did an excellent job today, it’s a start.”

“I know, it’s just…difficult.”

“Yes, but they’ll get used to it. I think it might be best to…”

Her voice was soothing, always in control. Control. That was it, wasn’t it? The rest of the team looked to him for answers and decisions, but he never truly felt like he had them. He was 25, for fuck’s sake. Sure, he was an adult, but more than half of his ‘adult’ life had been spent in space in the company of the Holt’s, in Galra prison, or with the Voltron team.

But Allura always seemed to know what to do. She never slipped into the despair that seemed to cling to him, and even in the worst of situations, she’d been able to formulate a plan and get them to safety. She was brilliant and competent, even under fire.

“Shiro?”

He blinked and came back to the present, realizing with embarrassment that he was more than half hard.

He desperately willed the hard-on away. “Yes?” It came out breathy and he gulped, desperately trying to clear his throat before he needed to speak again.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” That was a lie. A huge lie. Could Allura tell? Did Alteans have lie detectors built into their comm system?

“I just…I know this is a lot of pressure on you. You’ve adapted to the Black Lion so well, and you’ve been focused on the team and on training.” She sighed. “I suppose I’m a bit worried about you. The others are fairly vocal with their complaints, but you don’t say much about yourself or how you’re feeling. It’s always about the team. You have the right to an opinion as well.”

“I…well, yes. I know.” He settled in and tried to relax again, feeling the weight of exhaustion sinking into his bones.

It must have come through in the sound of his voice and Allura said, “I ought to let you sleep, I’m sorry to keep you awake.”

“No, I…I don’t sleep much these days. And I like listening to you. It makes me feel less…alone.” The other end of the comm was silent for a moment and Shiro fully realized what he’d said and tried to backtrack. “What I mean is…”

“I understand what you mean.” She said quietly. “You don’t quite feel like you fit in with the others. I feel the same.”

“What do you do when you miss Altea?” The questions were spilling out before he could stop them, like a fresh chest wound. “Or your friends? Your family?”

She paused. “I used to speak to my father’s stored personality, but now that he’s gone entirely, I simply try to remember. Sometimes Coran and I talk about Altea, but we came from very different social circles. It’s very lonely.”

“Would you…would you tell me about your life sometime?” He can’t believe he’s asking, it’s a ridiculous request. She’s going to laugh at him, of course she is, what other response…

“Certainly. What would you like to know?”

“I mean…I don’t know.” He was so surprised by her agreement and hadn’t thought that far ahead. “What was a normal day like for you?”

“I’d usually wake up, go about any morning business, eat lunch…”

“No but…tell me about it in detail. Other than the castle, I have no experience with Altean life. Pretend I don’t know anything.”

Her amusement seemed to come through her voice, as if she might laugh at the thought. “If you’re certain I won’t bore you, I suppose. I…alright, waking up. Early mornings had a faint blue-ish sunlight, filtering in through my window. Father always made sure I had a window facing the sunrise, as it was my favorite time of day. I’d wake up, pull a dressing robe on, and go out to the terrace for a morning walk…”

When she was done, she segued into a variety of other topics, bits and pieces of everyday Altean life. She talked about life in the palace, and her people, and the galaxy as it was ten thousand years ago.

He closed his eyes, simply listening. The sound of her voice, precise but with a growing rasp as she spoke late into the night. The sound of her breath, the way he could half-feel her emotions through her words alone.

Sleep crept over him and claimed him without his notice.

* * *

He woke up the next morning and made two immediate observations.

First, that he felt rested for the first time in a long time. That he had somehow slept properly, and gone the entire night without a nightmare.

Second, that he had the worst morning wood he could remember.

He groaned and dealt with it in a matter of minutes, prepping for the day and heading down to the bridge.

* * *

That day’s training went little better, and as Shiro packed up his gear, Allura pulled him aside.

“Could I speak to you a moment?” She looked somewhat uncomfortable. “I know it was rather forward of me to assume you wanted to hear all of that last night, and I wanted to apologize.”

“Oh. I…I actually should be the one apologizing, I fell asleep. The last thing I remember you talking about was diplomatic relations with Daarzi.”

She brightened up. “Oh! So you slept well?”

“Better than I have in ages.”

“I suppose I oughtn’t feel too bad about rambling, then. No harm done.” She gave him a relieved smile and turned back toward the control booth.

Shiro sighed and went to go clean up after the full day of training.

* * *

That night, sleep evaded him again. He moved constantly, restless no matter how he turned. The bruising from the previous day’s training in the arena was still fresh, but the dull throbbing shouldn’t have been enough to keep him awake.

His comm buzzed and before he could think twice he’d grabbed it and flicked it on. “Hello?”

“Oh! I…I wasn’t actually sure you’d answer.”

“I’m still awake. What’s up?”

There was a pause. “Nothing, really. I just wondered if you might want to talk again?” She sounded almost hopeful. “Coran’s gone to sleep and you said talking yesterday might have helped you sleep and I thought maybe…you wouldn’t mind me talking more about Altea?”

His heart ached for her. She was alone in a way even he wasn’t, and he wished it were easier to reach out and give her some sort of comfort. “Of course I wouldn’t mind. I’m sorry if I fall asleep, though.”

“Oh no, that’s perfectly alright. It was just…nice. To be able to talk.”

“By all means, the floor is yours.”

“What do you mean?”

He paused, still occasionally thrown off by the castle’s translation systems and their failure to translate idioms properly. “It means you can go ahead and talk as much as you like.”

* * *

It became a pattern, between the two of them. She would talk to him for a time, and he would listen, occasionally asking questions, until the gentle lilt of her voice sent him to sleep. As odd as it was, it took the stress off of both of them.

It was fine as long as he simply focused on the pattern of her voice, letting the sound wash over him as white noise until he dropped off to sleep. Allowing his mind to wander, however, proved to be a problem. All too often he found himself turned on and mortified at the thought that it was, to a certain extent, Allura doing it to him.

More than once he found that it was impossible to ignore the way his cock strained against the fabric of his pajamas, the light friction just making matters worse. He palmed himself through his pants as he attempted to adjust them and suppressed a moan, biting down on the sound and refusing to breathe until he could will it away. He woke up nearly every day with morning wood.

Internally, he told himself everything would be fine as long as she never found out. Really, it would be fine. He just wanted to die of embarrassment.

* * *

Everything was fine until an alarm went off in the middle of the night.

Shiro had been half asleep, drifting on the waves of the Princess’s voice, when the proximity alarms went off. The comm went haywire as Allura took off and he threw himself out of bed, pulling on his under-suit as quickly as possible before running for the command center on autopilot.

Coran sat at the center console, fiddling with the tech. He seemed to be in little rush, and Allura looked royally pissed off. “You woke us up in the middle of the night?”

“Judging by the speed with which you arrived, you were already awake, and besides, this is excellent practice for the paladins! Shiro’s the only one to show up so far, they need it!”

They both turned to look at him and his brain came on-line, allowing him to take the situation in properly.

He’d operated on instinct, flinging himself from bed and pulling on his flight suit, which is why it took him til he was in the command center to realize he was in an extremely skintight suit and he was still sporting a hard-on.

The princess looked him up and down and he could have sworn the corner of her mouth tic-ed up. He barely managed to pull his helmet off and hold it in front of him before the rest of the team started arriving. Kieth, Pidge, Hunk, and eventually Lance showed up.

Coran looked around at the team, annoyed as he held up a timepiece none of them could read. “That was incredibly slow, for a test run. I expect everyone in the command center in three minutes flat!”

Even Allura looked annoyed. “Right, well, that’s that. Please, go get some rest. This was a…”

“Training exercise!” Coran jumped in. “You’re all slow, that’s no way to respond to an emergency call!”

Allura nodded and ushered him back to the console. “Right. A training exercise. Anyway, you can go back to sleep. Coran accidentally set off the castle alarms.”

“What the hell did I get out of bed for then?!” Lance groaned.

“It’s training!”

“We had training today and we have more tomorrow, we can’t train our best if we’re tired!”

Shiro made a decision and cut into the argument. “Just…everyone go back to bed, try to get a couple more hours of sleep. We’ll meet on the training deck tomorrow morning, one hour later than usual.”

* * *

He made it back to his room before his comm went off. He debated answering it for a minute, then bit down on the self-loathing that seemed to flood him.

Allura’s voice on the line seemed to cut through him. “So, it’s my voice that does it for you, hm?”

“I’m sorry.” He felt his face burn.

“No need to be sorry. I’m simply curious. Is it my voice?”

“Not…exactly.”

“What is it, then?”

“It’s...” Hell. He was in for it now. He could hear her words, the first time she’d said it, _it will take a pilot who is a born leader, and in control at all times._ He was cracking and she was going to see him fall apart, and if that wasn’t a bad enough prospect, the idea of Allura seeing the way he felt he would snap under the pressure was terrifying. He couldn’t say it. “I don’t know, I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

“I didn’t mean for this to happen, I promise. It just…does, sometimes, when I actually manage to relax…”

She was quiet for a moment, then asked, “So when you don’t have to be in control of the team?”

The urge to curl in on himself was awful. If he could just curl up and disappear, that would have been perfect. Disappear and never have to look Allura in the eye again. “Yes,” he said quietly.

“You like letting me be in control.” There was no shame, no embarrassment in her voice.

“I mean…I, yes, but…” he floundered. “You’re not…I don’t know, you don’t think it’s off-putting?”

She sighed. “If I were having this conversation with one of the others, I’d probably be telling them it was an unreasonable fixation. They’re young, I’m sure they’re still trying to figure things out for themselves. But we’re both adults, I think we can handle ourselves appropriately, and without it interfering with the dynamics of the team.”

He couldn’t believe she knew, much less that they were having this conversation. Any words that came to mind stuck in his throat, coming out as a strangled sound of agreement.

“Better for you to be able to relax and let go sometimes. It would help with your performance in both training and the field, don’t you think?”

“I…that would be…” he searched for the right word and settles on “…nice.”

“Are you settled in?”

His heart pounded in his ears and part of him couldn’t believe he’d agreed to this. “Uhm. Yes.”

“Shall I simply speak normally, or is there something you want me to talk about?”

“I think…anything will do.”

“Well, by all means, if I say something you like or…” for the first time, she sounded hesitant, “you have to understand, this is…all rather unexpected, I thought you were entirely uninterested in me. Humans are still a bit strange to me, you see. I’m not sure I read your body language properly.”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…”

“Shiro, stop apologizing. I’m flattered, really.” The command hit him in the gut and he palmed himself through his pants.

“I’m s…” he stopped himself as his voice wavered. “Right.”

“Hm?” She made a questioning noise. “Your voice changed. Something wrong?”

His face couldn’t possibly burn any more, could it? He cleared his throat and mumbled, “I…um. Got my hands on myself.”

“Ohh, I’m sorry, I assumed you already had.” There was a pause. “What’s human anatomy like? I’ve seen the anatomical scans we have on record for all the paladins, but…”

“That’s a discussion for another time.” His voice nearly cracked with the strain. “Please don’t make me try to explain right now.”

“Ah. Hm.” The comm was quiet for a minute before she spoke again. “Would it be alright if I told you what to do?”

The question was so unexpected that it knocks him breathless with another surge of arousal. The thought of letting someone else call the shots was intoxicating, the very idea of letting go of control leaving him seeing spots.

“Shiro? Are you alright…? I didn’t intend to upset you.”

“Yes please.” His voice was quiet. He could almost hear the changes of direction in Allura’s mind in the silence that followed. Then finally…

“Oh.”

“I’m sorry.” The words were automatic.

“No, no, don’t apologize.” She was rushing, sounding a bit flustered herself. “Feedback will be most helpful, you understand. I’m fairly…certain I can make this work but your thoughts on the matter would be most helpful.”

“You’re trying to get me off over a comm and you want feedback?”

“I want to know what works for you.”

 _Shit. Shit, shit, control, get yourself in control_. It occurred to him that he was punching several weight classes higher than he ought to be, that Allura was far out of his league. “Alright.” It came out strangled.

He slid his hand down the shaft, distantly enjoying the ripple of pleasure that ran through him. It’d taken a couple of days of fumbling around the bathroom to find a passable oil that didn’t look or smell weird, but he was thankful he’d taken care of that problem in advance. He slicked his hand, shivering at the coolness of the lube until it came up to body temperature.

“Tell me what you’re thinking about.” Allura’s voice flowed over him like water, although it had taken on a husky note.

He couldn’t resist the command if he tried. “A lot of things, really. Getting the other paladins into fighting shape, finding out more about what tech the Galra have available to them, what we’re going to do about…”

“You have an overactive mind, you know that?”

“Yeah. I do.”

“I want you to let all of that go. Focus on the sound of my voice and yourself in the most base, physical sense.”

“What?” He felt a bit pathetic, but somehow her voice flipped all the right switches in his brain. Coupling that with a firm, sure grip, he wasn’t going to last long.

She changed tracks. “Your breathing should be deep and slow. Like meditation, but more erotic. Focus inward on yourself.”

Each stroke was a smooth glide, and he resisted the urge to buck his hips as she spoke. He felt drawn tight, about to snap with the tension that coiled low in his belly.

“Allura, I’m…” _close, so close._

“Relax. Let me take control. Let it all go.”

“Easier said than done.”

“That’s an order.”

It was half-blinding how quickly the command took him to pieces. He shuddered, spilling over his hand with an orgasm so intense it blocked out all other sensation.

As his mind cleared, he found the comm had slipped off his pillow. He retrieved it with his clean hand, feeling his face start to burn with embarrassment.

There was a sound that might have been a low laugh on the line. “Better?”

“I…yes.” What was he supposed to say? ‘Thanks for not being weird about talking and getting me off’?

“Good. I hope you sleep better tonight.”

He settled for, “Thank you” as exhaustion weighed on him, and hoping it wasn’t too awkward.

“Of course. Anytime.”

His mind clicked into full awareness and he registered her comment just as the call ended.

**Author's Note:**

> Reminder that both of them are consenting adults, even if Shiro is a bit awkward due to a lack of long-term relationships. Or any real relationships, tbh. Dude is only 25 and he's been through a lot. Just let him have something nice.
> 
> Feedback always welcome, or come visit me on tumblr at georgette-the-frog


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